1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical connectors and particularly to electrically continuous buss bar assemblies. In many fields of electrical art, it is desirable to provide electrical connection between adjacently positioned terminal posts or pins which has insignificant or negligible resistance. Such devices are commonly employed in computors, communication systems, solid state wiring connections, circuit boards, and terminal blocks.
To achieve electrical connection between the terminal post is often desirable to place a buss trip or buss bar between the terminals which is securely fastened thereto and provides a good electrical contact therewith. Such assemblies are common in the electrical connecting field of art and numerous configurations have been developed heretofor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrical connecting strip or buss bar must be constructed to allow placement of the strip between electrical terminals in a simple one-step operation. Also, in large electrical assemblies a large number of such buss bars and the like are utilized so that minimization of part cost and speed of assembly are essential elements to take into consideration in the construction of metallic strip connectors. Also, since connection with minimal resistance is required, the material from which buss connectors are formed is usually one of the expensive metals such as copper or alloys thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,606 issued June 6, 1972 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,273,099 issued Feb. 17, 1942 are two examples of electrical connector strips which are formed of flat sheet material which are easy to install and require the minimum amount of metallic connector material. Both of these designs are capable of being formed from thin flat sheets of metal. Although there are distinct cost advantages with these two designs, a problem exists due to the minimum amount of contact surface between the connector and the terminal posts.
To improve contact between the terminal posts and the buss bar, constructions have been designed such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,829,818 and 3,868,163 in which multiple points of contact exist between the terminal posts and the buss bar itself. Other designs showing multiple contact between the individual terminal posts and the electrical connector are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,582,864, 3,665,600, and 3,488,620. Each of these patents shows a different configuration designed to minimize the amount of material needed for forming the buss bar while at the same time maximizing contact between the terminal posts and the buss bar itself. To maximize the contact, there must be a lateral biasing exerted by the buss bar itself between its contacting points and the terminal posts itself. However, it is desirable to utilize a buss strip design which is capable of usage with terminal posts of variable designs and spacings. In this respect, the amount of lateral pressure exerted by the buss bar upon the terminal posts must be variable and controllable. To vary the pressure exert by the contacting surface of the buss strip and the terminal post itself with the configurations of the above patents, it is necessary to deform the buss bar substantially. As such, it is desirable to provide a buss bar which provides a means for easily controlling the variation in pressure exerted by the buss bar along the surfaces contacting the terminal posts and providing electrical communication therewith.